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Brought to you by TENA and TheCo. Every month I gather with a small group of female friends to get grounded and celebrate being a woman. It’s called a HER Women’s Circle, (Her Empowerment and Renewal) and for me, it is all about learning to become our true and authentic selves, inside and out. We confirm our strength as women, support each other, embrace our humanity and set our intentions. We have learned to trust each other in this special circle and share things here without judgement or the automatic reaction to jump in to try to solve someone's problems. We listen. We…

Today I'm going to share with you a little bit of information about probiotics. I've always been sensitive to smells - I love the smell of flowers, freshly laundered sheets and the back of my dog's head. I don't like the smells of the fish department in the grocery store, rotten potatoes or car exhaust. I can smell everything and it drives my family crazy. One day I noticed a rather unpleasant collection of odours wafting from different parts of me. I wasn't sure if this was another one of those perimenopause 'changes' I keep hearing about. I tried many…

With the very rainy summer we've had so far, I did a survey to find out what shows or movies my girlfriends would watch if they were away and it rained so hard for the entire time that they were forced to stay in. Most of the responses were about not watching tv but instead talking, drinking wine, playing board games, and dancing in the rain. D'oh! After modifying my question slightly to see what they'd potentially watch with their female friends "if the rare and unlikely opportunity presented itself where they had no other choice," these are 6 of…

Have you heard the great news? (This is something I would have loved when my kids were little.) Netflix has teamed up with Rogers to give you free "Download Zones" on some major routes for every long weekend this summer - until September 1st! This is a great idea to kill time on the long drives up or if any 'overtired' incidents occur on the way back, stop off for a quick download on the way home. If your kids are anything like mine were, after a day of rabble rousing with the cousins or at an awesome park, they'd either…

This April we were introduced to a new show on Netflix that has stirred many passionate responses from people across the country. We have heard of youth facilities that have actually banned this show from their lineup concerned about how it will be perceived by youth. This response surprises myself, my husband who works with youth and my daughter who is an 18 year old teen. She was actually motivated to write this post to share her thoughts on why she thinks we should all watch 13 Reasons Why, get into it on a personal level, and talk. My reasons why we should all…

I knew this day would come eventually but I never thought it would happen so fast. Especially after going through all the motions (and emotions) with my son a couple of years ago I didn't think this experience would be so hard this time. But it is. In five months baby girl will be packed up and moved into residence at her choice of college. As a mother I feel her hardships as if they were my own. When she turns a certain way or gets a look in her eye I am transported back to when we first saw…

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gillette Venus. All opinions are 100% mine. Do you remember the first time you decided to shave your legs? I do. I ended up slicing a big chunk of skin off my ankle bone. It bled like crazy! I thought it would make me more grown up to shave but I really had no idea what I was doing. After that fun first experience I decided to wait a bit longer. Apparently 89% of girls attempt shaving for the first time without permission. shave I remember thinking that after the first time,…

As the days grow longer certain nasty truths are being revealed in my house - like patches of yuck here and there, a behind the toilet no-touchy zone that needs some major TLC, and fuzzy dust things sticking out from the wall in the corner. It's time to get some spring cleaning started. fresh I'm not fond of housecleaning - not even a little bit. But, recently I was given a bottle of Spring Blossom Pine-Sol and figured now would be as good a time as any to "get my clean on". I dislike chemical smells so luckily this stuff smells great. I…

Then When I was a kid I found lots of heroes who were women on tv. Most of my life lessons occurred on the small screen while I was desperately attempting to ignore the chaos around me created by my siblings. It was the only escape as I fantasized about being a "grown up". There wasn't a more obvious option than Wonder Woman with her truth lasso. Charlie's Angels had skills I admired and it seemed to me that if you were to combine these three women you would have the perfect human. They were what I envisioned as the "Modern Woman" - able to take…

In case you are wondering, a "smorgasbord" is a Swedish buffet. Growing up we used to refer to a large quantity of yummy food as a smorgasbord and now it's a pretty good way to refer to these smoothie recipes. Do you eat all the fruits and veggies you are suppose to every day? I know I don't. As a matter of fact, I feel like I'm in so much of a hurry most days that getting the good stuff in my diet is not very realistic. According to the Canada Food Guide, If you are a woman between the ages of 19 to 50 years of age…

As couples go, we all make sacrifices for the other person. It can be offering the last piece of cake, the larger portion of the bed, or watching with them as the same struggling hockey team loses once again. We do things for the other person that we don't really want to because we love them. cheating Then there are the TV show commitments - in the 'olden days' you had to wait to watch a show weekly and record it if someone couldn't be there at that time or get the show when it came out a year later on DVD or…

I've just had the pleasure of watching an auditorium full of high school kids turn into Agents of Change. These future leaders came together with their teachers and school administration to donate a couple of dollars each for the pleasure of watching a movie together. Each kid in that audience learned that there are more than 36,000 kids in their region who rely on nutrition programs to eat at school or in community centres daily. toonies4tummies In this post I'm going to give you the chance to donate to this program online three times. This is the first time - click…

The Best Show Have you watched this series yet? Or more importantly have you finished it? IF NOT DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. I don't want to ruin it for you! I have been waiting to discuss this show since I saw it and I can't wait any longer. https://youtu.be/DvHJtez2IlY I found it a bit difficult to watch at first - the back and forth in time was confusing and created more questions than answers. HOWEVER I stuck with it and at the end of each episode there was a cliff hanger that forced me to go to the next…

It has happened - we are engaged. By engaged I mean committed. And by committed I mean to an act of craziness that might just save my life completely - medically and psychologically. I found out last fall that I needed to make some major changes in my life "or else". Keeping an open mind for a solution this is what I found: The Whole Life Fitness Manifesto, or WLFM, is an approach to improving one's life in many ways and it only takes 2% of your entire day to be involved. 15 minutes of intentional movement, 5 minutes of personal…

What a year 2016 has been. For better, for worse. I think next year will be MUCH BETTER. In the meantime I am fully prepared to shut off my brain and allow the reward chemicals to seep out and gently buffer in the new year. I've learned a lot about bingeing this year - a sport I am fully prepared to participate in on a moments notice. It turns out bingeing helps release those chemicals that make you feel happy. Makes sense right? You know that feeling you get when you finish a really good book or show? How you…

Hi! My name is Carin.

This is my soapbox - I love to hear and write about interesting things. Check it out!

Welcome to my 'Soapbox'

I love to share what I learn about interesting things and write about lots of 'stuff' including places to visit, eat, and play. You'll also find things related to my family. I guess you could call this a 'blog' but I prefer to think of it as my online journal. Feel free to look around and if you have any comments or an idea about something you'd like me to write about, give me a shout! I'm always looking for new opportunities. Have an eclectic day! (Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email.)